The Market Has Shifted and Most Sellers Have Not

Buyers have more inventory to choose from in 2026 than they did two years ago. They have more negotiating power. They have less urgency. The conditions that allowed sellers to price aggressively, receive multiple offers quickly, and hold firm on terms have been replaced by a market where buyers are comparison shopping, taking their time, and walking away from listings that do not present compelling value.

Matt Brady wants sellers and their agents to understand what that shift means for pricing strategy before a listing goes live rather than after it has been sitting for sixty days.

Why Overpriced Listings Hurt Sellers More Than They Help

The anchor most sellers keep returning to is what their neighbor got two years ago or what a Zestimate showed last spring. Neither of those numbers reflects the market those sellers are actually selling into today.

When a listing comes to market priced above where buyers are willing to engage they simply move on. Days on market accumulate. And once a listing has been sitting for a noticeable period something predictable happens in the psychology of every buyer who encounters it. They assume something is wrong with the property. Not with the price. With the house. The stigma of accumulated days on market is difficult to overcome regardless of how good the home actually is.

The seller who overpriced eventually cuts the price anyway. But they cut it from a weakened negotiating position with market time working against them and buyers who have already concluded the listing needs a deal to be worthwhile. The net result is frequently worse than correct pricing from day one would have produced.

What Actually Works Right Now

Price it right from day one. Correct pricing generates activity and activity generates offers. The goal is not leaving room to negotiate down from an inflated starting point. The goal is attracting buyers who are watching the market and know immediately when a property is priced to sell. A well-priced listing that generates early activity produces better outcomes than an overpriced one that generates price reductions over weeks of market time.

Think beyond the price cut when a concession is needed. A seller credit directed toward the buyer's closing costs or a rate buydown often does more for the buyer's monthly payment than a price reduction of the same dollar amount and it keeps the sale price higher in the process. The math of those two approaches produces different outcomes and the difference is not obvious until the numbers are laid out side by side. Matt Brady can show exactly what a seller-funded buydown does to a buyer's payment compared to an equivalent price drop because those two paths do not produce identical results.

Know your local market rather than reacting to national headlines. National housing data describes average conditions across millions of transactions in dozens of different market environments. Your neighborhood's current inventory level and average days on market are what actually determine how your specific listing should be priced and positioned. Those numbers look different from one zip code to the next and sometimes from one street to the next.

The Conversation That Saves Deals

If you are selling or you are an agent with a listing that is sitting message Matt Brady. He will run the numbers on what a seller-funded rate buydown does to a buyer's payment compared to a price reduction of the same amount. It is a comparison that changes how the concession conversation happens and produces better outcomes for both parties when it is understood before the decision is made rather than after.

Sources

NAR.realtor
MortgageNewsDaily.com
ConsumerFinancialProtectionBureau.gov
FannieMae.com
Investopedia.com